Ghosts and Friends
by Nizdotnet
Summary: After the death of his classmate, Iesada Takanori, Muraguchi Shogo is able to see ghosts. Not knowing what to do with this power, Shogo tries to live his life normally, but is then thrown the responsibility to help the ghosts reunite with their hosts.
1. Chapter 1 Part 1

My name is Muraguchi Shogo.

I go to Waseda Middle School and am the captain of the basketball team there. To anyone else, I can be seen as just an ordinary kid with good athleticism, but I have something that no one else has.

I can see ghosts.

The very first ghost that I saw was that of my classmate Iesada Takanori. It started during his funeral.

*

Takanori's body was found inside a lake near a part close to our school. Because Takanori's mother had died recently from a poor heart, people thought that he committed suicide.

The people at his funeral were all his friends from school and their families. He was a very popular kid mostly known for how smart and outgoing he was. My parents were close friends with his mother so we attended as well.

No member of Takanori's family showed up it seemed. I heard that his father left them when he was still a baby so of course he never showed up.

While everyone was grieving, I looked up at the casket and then saw Takanori. As if he had just woken up from sleeping, he stretched out his arms while letting out an annoying noise.

What?

"WHAT?!"

All the people present turned to look at me.

"Ie-Iesada-kun is alive!"

Takanori turned towards me.

"Of course I'm alive."

But nobody else seemed to notice. I pointed straight at him.

"Iesada-kun is up right now!"

My mom came from the side and then hugged me.

"It's okay, Sho. Takanori is in a better place now."

Huh?

Takanori is still alive. What are you talking about?

Nobody could see him; only me.

I could see the worried look on Takanori's face right before I lost consciousness. How could I have been the only one to be able to see him is all I could think about as I slept.

Without even giving me a time to doubt whether what I saw was real or not, the moment I woke up, Takanori was floating right in front of me.

Uwah!

"Aha! I knew it, so you _can_ see me! Sho, was it?" Takanori seemed really happy.

"I think I need to get some more rest." I told myself before putting the blanket over myself again, but immediately, Takanori pulled on my sheets.

"Wait! Hold on, dimwit! You're fully awake, I'm really here!"

"But then this makes no sense, how in the world are you floating?"

Takanori just lifted his shoulders as he shook his head.

"How would I know? The minute I woke up, I was in the coffin and you were screaming that I was alive while nobody else could see me."

I looked at him in disbelief.

"Then after you went to sleep, I just followed you when your parents took you home."

"I-I see..."

This was really too hard for me to comprehend, but it is actually happening right in front of me. It has to be real. There is a ghost right in front of me.

"Iesada-kun, did you really commit suicide?"

Takanori had a blank face in the beginning, but then he started looking around the room as he started thinking.

"I don't think so."

He let out a big sigh.

"I can't. I'm trying to remember what I was doing, but I don't even remember being near that park."

"So what now, then?"

I gave him a confused look as I asked him. He looked at the ground for a while before answering.

"Well, you're the only one that can see me. So I guess I'll just stick around you until we figure something out."

He let out his hand.

"We never really talked in class, but let's get along. I'm Iesada Takanori."

"Yeah, let's. My name is Muraguchi Shogo."

I went to grab his hand to do a handshake, but my hand just went through his'.

"Hm. Let's do an air shake." Takanori suggested as he did a handshake motion so we just pretended to do a handshake.

"Now, let me check out the other rooms in this house!"

"Wait, wait up!"

"Sho..."

He flew closer towards the door before continuing.

"I know you had no control in this, but I'm glad that someone can see me. So thanks."

He flew through the door, leaving me inside my room in peace and quiet. I leaned back down on my bed.

What is going to happen now?


	2. Chapter 1 Part 2

Just like any other day, I went to school. But this time, Takanori was floating beside me.

"Why do you wake up so early for?" He said as he started yawning.

"Do ghosts really need sleep? Why are you so tired? Anyways, I have basketball practice before classes since our big game is about to come up."

"...oh right, our team is in the final four for the Winter Tournament, isn't it?"

I kept walking in silence as I noticed another student from my class walking ahead.

Kanesaka Tomomi.

"Hey, isn't that Tomomi? Wonder why she is going so early. You should go say hi."

"I really don't get how you can call everyone by their first names, Iesada-kun."

"Hm? It's just their name, right?"

"Ah how I envy your lack of worry."

"Sho, just treat them how you want to be treated. If I want to get close to anyone, I just do it."

"It's not that simple."

"Why are you such a worry-wart?"

"Ah, whatever! Forget you." I started running towards the school gym.

"Hey, wait up, Sho!"

*

"Hey! Over here!"

I yelled out at my teammate. He immediately passed to me. The person who was guarding me was caught off so I took a shooting stance. I started my jump and I threw-

"Blocked!"

"Uwah!" I yelped as I was surprised by a sudden figure appearing before me. My shot air balled as I fell back.

It was Takanori. He was laughing as his prank had gone according to his plan.

"Captain, what happened there?" A teammate said as he lent me a hand to help me stand up.

"My bad, a fly flew across my face." I tried laughing it off. "Alright, it's around 20 minutes before class, everyone gather the balls and go get changed."

"Hey hey, Sho. You have to admit that was pretty funny." Takanori said while laughing.

I waited until everyone left before turning to talk to Takanori.

"We were trying to practice here, Iesada-kun."

"That's why I waited until the end to do that."

I let out a soft sigh before going to exit the gym. "Okay, but I think we might need rules since you will be following me around for so long every day."

"Rules? Like what?"

"Hm. Okay, you can't bother me while I'm around other people, first of all. The last thing I want for people to think I am crazy for talking to myself."

Takanori laughs. "Okay, understood. Anything else?"

"You can't follow me to the restrooms."

"Come on, dude. We're both guys, are you really that self-conscious about your body?"

"It was really awkward and disturbing when you were just talking to me while I was taking a crap in the stall this morning. And I couldn't even yell at you because there were other people in the restroom. Just follow the rules, okay?"

"You know you could have just written a note on your phone and shown me."

After taking a quick shower and changing, I went straight to class. Our homeroom was a little bit quieter since Takanori's friends were sad over Takanori's death, but Takanori seemed to be ignoring everything that was happening.

I'm sure inside, Takanori was probably really sad. He would never be able to be a normal student and live a normal life ever again. He will just be floating as a ghost for who knows how long. If it weren't for me, I wonder how lonely it would be for him.

Before I knew it, it was almost time for lunch. Nishio Ichiro, one of my fruends and also Takanori's old Math Team friend, came to ask me if I was okay after what happened yesterday. My 'fan' as she liked to call herself was also there. Her name was Kataoka Aya. She was a year younger than me and comes to watch all of the school basketball games.

"Yeah, I'm good. I was just really tired so I just started seeing things." I replied while giving a small scoff.

"You scared everyone yesterday. You were screaming that you saw Iesada-kun alive. After you fainted, they checked the body to see if he was still alive, but they confirmed that he was really dead."


End file.
